Baro
Baro, often referred to simply as "the alchemist," is a character in Fable: Blood Ties. Baro the alchemist is a mysterious man in the employ of Reaver, and is responsible for the creation of the monstrous Half-breeds. He is described as a massively built man who wears black monk robes and a crimson metal mask that adheres to his face “like a second skin.” Reaver suspects that Baro is not the alchemist's true name. Story Ben Finn first encounters Baro after he and his gnome companion pursue the Half-breeds, including one Ben believes to be his brother William, to a secluded manor following their attack on Blackholm. He learns that the manor, and the Half-breeds themselves, belong to Reaver, and that the warlord Droogan is paying to use them. He makes his way into the bowels of the house, where the creatures are kept, and finds Baro torturing his brother William with a red hot poker. Furious, Ben shoots the alchemist in the chest, knocking him down, but the bullet deflects off the armour underneath his robes. Ben then follows up with a shot that hits Baro's mask squarely between his eyes, but ricochets. He turns over on his stomach, and Ben presses his pistol against an opening in the mask at the base of his skull. Before he can fire, William pleads with Ben not to kill the alchemist. Bewildered, Ben relents, and proceeds to savagely kick Baro in the head until he falls into unconsciousness. Ben and William then attempt to escape, but are promptly recaptured by Reaver’s men and taken to his study to bargain for William’s freedom. Reaver explains that Baro, like all alchemists, is obsessed with metamorphosis, and used alchemy to produce changes in the human body. He created the Half-breeds by infusing human beings with the essences of creatures such as balverines and hobbes, along with binding magic from shadow creatures, but allowed them to retain much of their humanity, making them more effective and easier to control. William and the others obey Baro implicitly, as he is the only one who could possibly cure them, and if they are away from Baro’s treatments and enchantments for too long, their animal urges will overwhelm them and they will lose their humanity entirely. Much later, after Ben reneges on his promise to kill Page for Reaver in exchange for William’s freedom, Reaver forces the pair to fight William and the other Half-breeds in ‘The Pit,’ his personal combat arena. As he is being led to the arena, Ben passes William’s cage. William, in beast form, tells Ben that Baro has been denying them their treatments in order to increase their ‘animal fury,’ and that it’s taking everything he’s got just to speak to him. As he nears the entrance to the arena, Ben sees Baro waiting by the door, and assures him that, once he’s finished in the arena, he’ll be coming back for him. Ben joins Page on the arena floor, and Reaver and his posh guests take their seats in the stands, but the Half-breeds do not appear. When Ben investigates their cages, he stumbles upon a grisly scene: numerous dead guardsmen and, much to his dismay, the decapitated body of Baro the alchemist. Ben suspects that Baro died at the hands of his brother William. Category:Fable: Blood Ties Characters